


Faded

by who_needs_a_witty_username



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, Homeless Dan Howell, How Do I Tag, I Tried, Lonely Dan Howell, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Dan Howell, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-18 11:18:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17579855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/who_needs_a_witty_username/pseuds/who_needs_a_witty_username
Summary: Dan Howell is an orphan that has lived on the streets of London for as long as he can remember. His parents abandoned him at the age of five, so he was left to fend for himself.Phil Lester is a first-year uni student that lives by himself in a flat in London. He left home wishing for a better life, where he could be independent without being pressured by his family to be something he’s not.When these boys cross paths in the most unlikely of ways, neither could have expected the impact they would have on each other, or how they would change each other’s lives forever.





	1. Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic on AO3, and I'm really hoping that somebody enjoys it. Please, if there is something that you want to contribute, comment. I hope you enjoy! :)

I’ve always been alone. Ever since I can remember, it’s only been me. I don’t know why my parents decided to abandon me, I have no idea what I ever did to deserve being deserted, but now it’s just my way of life. I’ve lived on the streets since I was five, and that was ten, almost eleven, years ago, so I’m used to it.

It isn’t that people haven’t tried to help me. It’s just that I’m not willing to accept the help. I can fend for myself, I can steal what I need to survive, and I sure as hell don’t trust anyone enough to even consider accepting help.

My name is Dan. Dan Howell. I tried finding my parents when I was younger, I tried searching for anyone with the last name Howell, anyone who recognised the name, but I never found anyone. So I gave up.

I now live a solitary life on the streets. I avoid talking to people as much as possible, I keep my head down, and I survive. That’s just how I’ve always been. I am a shadow.


	2. Out of Sight

Dan Howell. It was a name that not many knew. The few that did know it were either dead, or wanted nothing to do with him. Did he know this? No. Dan assumed that nobody wanted anything to do with him because he was unloveable. He wasn’t capable of compassion. He didn’t want to be loved. He was happy that way.

Dan was sat in the back corner of a Starbucks, when he saw the young man enter. Dan had no money, he was sitting in the Starbucks for warmth, and to see if he could trick anyone into giving him money.   
This young man looked promising. Gullible. Easy prey.

The man must have felt Dan’s stare, because he turned to look at Dan, giving him a confused look. Dan just glanced away.

He was taken aback for a minute. The stranger couldn’t have been much older than him, twenty at most, and he was stunning. His eyes were a bright blue, his skin, pale. He had black hair, and was incredibly tall, at least a few inches taller than Dan himself.

None of this would stop Dan though. He needed the money. Dan stood up and walked out to the alley next to the coffee shop and waited. It wasn’t long till’ he saw the man walk out of the Starbucks, and that was Dan’s cue. 

He waited for the man to get a little farther down the street before he started following, but there were a few times he had to duck into doorways. This man was observant, but not as observant as Dan. Once they got into a busier part of town, Dan risked getting closer, close enough to where he could touch the other man. This was Dan’s chance.

Dan reached forward, into the man's jacket pocket where he saw his wallet was, and grasped the wallet.   
It was at that moment that Dan felt a hand grab his wrist.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did y'all think. I apologise in advance, because updates are going to be pretty infrequent. Sorry. Comments and kudos are appreciated. :)


	3. I'm Lost

“I-I can explain! I swear it’s not what it looks like!” Dan said, trying to pull his hand back, but to no avail. The man kept a firm hold.  
“Are you sure about that? Cause it looks like you’re trying to take my wallet.” he said, glaring at Dan.

“Y-yeah. I was just….. tryingtofindthething,youknowthething,thethingI’mlookingfor.” Dan said, internally slapping himself at his mumbling.

The man just gave him a weird look, obviously deciding to ignore what Dan had said. “So why were you trying to take my wallet?”

Dan sighed, deciding to just go with the truth. “Because I need the money.” he said, looking down at the ground. 

Dan felt the hand on his wrist loosen, and heard the man clear his throat.

“Hey. Look at me.” Dan heard the stranger say.

Dan looked up, reluctantly, at the man beside him. He really was gorgeous, but the look of pity on his face made Dan want to run away.

“Why?” the man said, looking at Dan from under his long eyelashes, and Dan could feel his stomach flip.

“I- well- It doesn’t really matter.” Dan said, looking down at the ground, ashamed at his own attempt to dismiss the man in front of him.

“It kinda does. Did it occur to you that I might want to know why my wallet almost got stolen by a complete stranger.” the man said, his stare intense.

Dan took a deep breath, and decided to just say it. 

“BecauseI’mbrokeandIneededmoneytobuydinnerandmaybeevensomewheretostaytonight, JesusfuckingChrist.” Dan said, wrenching his wrist away from the man and attempting to run. Attempting to. The man grabbed around his waist from behind, and kept him there, preventing him from running. 

“Will you just stop for a minute?!?” the man said, straining to keep a hold of Dan. “For one minute please?”

Dan stopped struggling, incredibly tense, but still. It had been so long since another person had held him like this. Even if it was meant to restrict him, some part of Dan actually liked this touch.

Sensing Dan relaxing slightly against him, the stranger decided to take a different approach.

“We started off on the wrong foot. My name is Phil.” the stranger, Phil, said as he let go of Dan.

Dan’s form slumped slightly at the lost contact, but he pulled away when Phil’s arm’s fell from his waist. “Dan.” he said, glaring at the ground, avoiding the other man’s pitying gaze. 

“Dan.” he hear Phil say, but he sounded as though he were underwater. Dans movements felt sluggish as he tried to adjust his curly fringe.

“Dan are you okay?” Phil said, reaching out to grab Dan as he started to fall to the ground.

Dan felt as though he was moving in slow motion, the world coming to a halt, the ground falling from under his feet, and a blanket being drawn over his mind and eyes.

The last thing that Dan saw was a worried pair of blue eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!  
> Sorry if this fic is trash, and if anyone has any suggestions for tags, please tell. I'm so bad at tags.


	4. Where Are You Now?

As Dan started to drift back into consciousness, the first thing he noticed wasn’t the blinding light or the splitting pain in his head, but the warm hand in his own, a constant pressure in the hazy uncertainty that was consciousness. 

After a few minutes, he tried to open his eyes, slowly as to not blind himself. When his eyes fully opened, he looked towards his hand jumping in surprise. 

He was in the hospital, as he had guessed from the light, and sitting beside his bed, holding his hand, was the man from before, whose wallet he had attempted to take. 

“Phil. His name is Phil.” Dan recalled. Phil was slumped over the side of the bed, clearly asleep. Dan didn’t want to move and wake him, but the pain in his head was unbearable. 

Dan removed his hand gently from Phil’s, hoping that he could do so without waking the other man, but as soon as he pulled his hand away, Phil sat up, looking around with a look of alarm on his face.

Dan tried to tell him to calm down, but when he attempted to speak, only a small groan came out of his mouth. The noise seemed to have gotten the half-asleep male’s attention though.

Phil looked at Dan, visibly relaxing when he saw that Dan was okay. “How are you doing?” he asked, resting his elbows on the bed, looking up at Dan from his position.

Dan gestured to his throat, and Phil seemed to have gotten the message.

“Oh. Do you want me to get a nurse?” Phil said, gesturing to one of the red buttons that you could press to call a nurse. 

Dan nodded, attempting to clear his throat, but upon felling how dry and scratchy it was, he stopped. Phil pressed the button, and Dan sent him a look that said ‘thank you’.

A few minutes later, a kind looking nurse walked in, holding a glass of water and a syringe. She handed Dan the water and injected the contents of the syringe into Dan’s IV.

When she left the room, Dan looked at Phil, a thought running through his mind. He motioned for the other boy to hand him a piece of paper and a pen that was sitting on a table beside the bed. 

‘Why did you bring me to the hospital?’ Dan wrote, handing the paper to Phil.

The boy looked up at Dan after reading the note, giving him an odd look. He grabbed the pen from where Dan had set it and quickly scribbled a response.

‘Because you passed out in the middle of the street. Why else?’

Dan frowned when he read the note. 

‘But why do you care? I tried to steal your wallet for fuck's sake.’

Phil read the note, then shook his head, a smirk appearing on his face. “Dan, if I see someone pass out right in front of me, I’m going to bring them to the hospital, no matter what. Even if they tried to pickpocket me.”

Dan smiled, looking up at Phil. He cleared his throat, and said, “But you didn’t have to stay with me. You could’ve just left.” His voice was barely more than a whisper, Phil still heard him.

“I was thinking about what you said the other day, and I’ve come up with a proposition,” Phil said, looking down at his hands. 

“Oh? And what is that?” Dan said, smirking just the tiniest bit.

“I’ve decided that, only if you want to, you can come live with me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if y'all haven't guessed yet, the name and chapter titles on this foc are from a song. Here's the link ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ItHLz5WEA  
> As always, comments, kudos, and tag suggestions are appreciated!


	5. Fantasy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am looking for a beta at the moment. If you are interested in being a beta for this fic, let me know in the comments.

“I’ve decided that, only if you want to, you can come live with me!” 

“Wait, what?” Dan said, looking up at the man sitting beside him.

“I said that you could come live with me!” Phil said, a wide smile lighting up his face.

“Yeah, I got that,” Dan said, “But why? You don’t even know me. If anything, you should be yelling at me. I tried to rob you for fuck’s sake!”

Dan’s voice had slowly started rising as he went on, to confused to contain it.

“Why the hell do you care? Why does a stranger care more about me than I care about myself? Huh? Tell me that, Mr Good Samaritan!"

Phil froze, unsure what to do. He decided to just let Dan get it all out, but what Dan said got him thinking.

"Why do I care? It's not like I actually know him. He's just some stranger that tried to pickpocket me on the street."

Phil knew, deep down, that ever since the second he heard Dan say that he didn't have anywhere to go, he had wanted to help him. Phil hated seeing people suffer, especially when he knew that he could help. Phil had decided long ago that he would do anything that he could to help people in need, and if he let Dan decline now, he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life. 

“Look. Just let me help you. I hate seeing people suffer. So please. Come live with me. I can help you.”Phil said, his eyes pleading.

Dan sighed, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. It was too good of a chance to pass up. A place to live. A kind person willing that was willing to help him. So why was he hesitating?

After a few minutes of quiet consideration, Dan finally looked up at the other boy, a slight smile on his lips. 

“Fine. I’ll come live with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter was so short, and I'm sorry if it takes a while for the next update, because I just ran out of pre-written chapters. As always, comments, kudos, and tag suggestions are welcome. Also, if there is anything that you want to see in this fic, or that you think would make it better, please feel free to tell me in the comments.

**Author's Note:**

> So what do you think? Sorry for the short first chapter. The first few will be on the shorter side until I get further into the plot.  
> I decided this is going to be a fanfic from Dan’s POV. I was going to do alternating POVs between Dan and Phil, but I’ve decided that unless I can find someone else to write Phil's chapter’s with me, this will just be a story from Dan’s POV. I’ll probably post on my Twitter and Tumblr asking for a co-author and a beta. I’ve also decided that only the first chapter will be in first person. The reason will be revealed in the end.  
> Also, if you are interested in being a beta for this fic, let me know please.  
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
